Skydiving, BASE jumping, alligator wrestling – whatever adventure sport you may have personally tempted fate with surely doesn’t compare to a brand new one on the scene: Indian autorickshaw racing. The Indian Autorickshaw Challenge – dubbed the “Amazing Race for the clinically insane” – takes fearless adventurers across India behind the handlebars of their very own three-wheeled, 7 horse-power autorickshaw.
Driving may not seem that exciting or adventurous, but in India it is a death-defying experience, to say the least – and on my recent trip I never even got behind the wheel. I wouldn’t dare. Though I made it through physically unscathed, the countless brushes with death (a midnight ride from Bangalore to Puttaparthi with a sleepy driver comes to mind) left me a bit jarred even after my return. Without the skilled (though graceless) driving of the many men who transported me around India, I may not be here to write this very article.
Now you too can tempt fate by manning your very own autorickshaw as a part of the Indian Autorickshaw Challenge. Registration is currently open for two races set to take place in 2007 – one from Chennai to Mumbai, the other from Chennai to Kanyakumari.
If you’ve had the – cough – “pleasure” of exploring the roads of India via car, you know the stakes. Me? Riding was enough. I’ll leave it to the professionals.